Hundreds of Aggies leapt to their feet as the candidate walked out onto the stage at lunchtime. Their hearty applause and excited howls reverberated through the auditorium.

“It’s an honor to be at Texas A&M, home of the Aggies,” Giuliani said, an amused look washing over his face as the crowd began to whoop. “I like that. I love that sound.”

If Rudy is wowing em in Texas, the GOP nomination is a lock.

Before the question-and-answer session, Giuliani touched on the continuing threat from what he described as Islamic fundamentalist terrorists while he criticized the push by Democrats for a timeline to withdraw from Iraq. Why, he asked, would the military want to outline a detailed timeline and make it available to everyone – including America’s enemies? Such a measure would give the enemy the upper hand, he said.

He said he also takes issue with constituents who have pushed for a timeline, saying they are no less patriotic or noble than anyone else, but they don’t see the big picture, nor do they realize what is at stake.

This is a definining issue in this next election. If you view Iraq as part of the “War on Terror” it is without question impossible to leave. Even if that was “not” the original mission, it has evolved into that, whether America likes it or not.

Giuliani was on the Texas A&M campus as part of the Wiley Lecture Series, a student-led organization created in 1982 to encourage discussion of national and foreign policy issues.

He spoke for about 30 minutes, spending much of his time praising former President George Bush for his service to the country. He then took questions from audience members – some of whom questioned his stance on the war and health care. The topics ranged from al-Qaida and gun control to party unity and poverty levels.